Nanking: Critic Reviews

Nanking is a swift, incisive documentary about one of the lesser-known horrors of the 20th century.

A somberly effective look at one of the most shameful events in human history.

Sheds light on particular wartime atrocities largely neglected in the collective memory.

Nanking is grim but ultimately uplifting, a reminder that even in dangerous times, brave individuals can hold the line against barbarism.

The personalities it brings to light -- many of whom were forced to remain silent about what they'd seen after returning to their homelands -- are worthy of widespread exposure.

[A] powerful documentary.

The lesson here is not simply to vilify the Japanese soldiers of that era, but to make sure that we never forget who we are and what our country stands for today.

Nanking both calls attention to a horrifying set of war crimes that remains little known in the West and crafts an impossible-but-true hymn to the power of the individual conscience.

Indispensable, beautifully crafted account of a little-known Japanese massacre.

I have rarely, if ever, seen a documentary reconstruction of a historical event that is so rich in firsthand (and well-preserved) photographic material.

This painful documentary ends on a hopeful note, although with a clear view of the cloud over human nature.

A noble effort, but a flawed delivery. The film would benefit from more time spent with the real survivors, and less with actors tasked with "playing" the Western saviors.

Living through a screening of ... the 1937/8 Japanese invasion, devastation and occupation of Nanking creates a fervent wish to have nothing o do with our membership cards in the homo sapiens species.

A deft and dramatic melding of talking-head documentary, historic photos and film footage and readings by a cast of actors, the film is a devastating depiction of man's inhumanity to man. It is also about how some of us are brave enough to say 'No.'

Nanking bombards you with words and images of acts too barbaric to fully absorb.

Nanking is a sometimes clumsy and sometimes artistically flawed documentary but in the end it presents a powerful account of what happened in Nanking at the end of 1937 and beginning of 1938.

Nanking doesn't tell us why decency and compassion completely break down from time to time. It just tells us something terribly modern and all too familiar.